There He Goes Again! Rogers Votes Against Children

Rep. Mike Rogers has voted once again against SCHIP, which guarantees that 10 million children of working parents who can’t afford health insurance will receive the medical care they need. What is Rogers’ excuse for such a heartless vote? He claims that SCHIP would pit children against seniors and that the Democrats didn’t give time for a full debate. Even his peer in the 11th District, Thaddeus McCotter, knew better and voted for SCHIP this time.

This bill passed twice and was vetoed by Bush. Rogers voted against it each time. How much more debate did he need? This is the third round and when passed by the Senate, the SCHIP bill will be sent to President Obama who WILL sign it.

Criticism about full and open debate coming from one of Tom Delay’s henchmen is laughable. Remember Medicare Part D and the tactics used then to assure passage of a bill that didn’t give seniors as much help as it gave health insurance companies and pharmaceuticals? Remember Billy Tauzin, who chaired the committee (Commerce and Energy) which has authority over the pharmaceutical companies? He pushed Part D, resigned from Congress and went to work for big PhRMA for $2 million a year, lobbying Congress for the pharmaceutical industry. Our Mike was in the middle of it all. He didn’t have much concern for seniors then.

Rogers is considering a run for Michigan Governor. A recent article in the Livingston Press & Argus damns Rogers with faint praise stating that Mike “is as qualified as anyone else considering a run” forgetting that he needs to prove he will make a better governor than anyone else running. The article claims that “Rogers has served us well in Congress” but provides no proof to back up that claim. The main argument to support Rogers for governor is that he comes from Livingston County, which is worth a bucket of warm spit in the rest of the state.

Rogers brings a lot of baggage to a run for Governor. As a statewide candidate, he will need to reach out to many groups and he will have to be more bipartisan than his Congressional record shows. He has not voted for what is best for the people in the 8th District (rich people aside) nor for the people of Michigan. As a party hack, he has followed the Republican leadership over the cliff into the minority. Mike followed his congressional leaders, Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich, Denny Hastert and Billy Tauzin and approved their outrageous conduct. There is little future for him in the House now. No wonder he wants to run for Governor.